The concept of mixed reality includes the concept of augmented reality. Augmented reality relates to providing an augmented real-world environment where the perception of a real-world environment (or data representing a real-world environment) is augmented or modified with computer-generated virtual data. For example, data representing a real-world environment may be captured in real-time using sensory input devices such as a camera or microphone and augmented with computer-generated virtual data including virtual images and virtual sounds. The virtual data may also include information related to the real-world environment such as a text description associated with a real-world object in the real-world environment.
Some mixed reality environments enable the perception of real-time interaction between real objects (i.e., objects existing in a particular real-world environment) and virtual objects (i.e., objects that do not exist in the particular real-world environment). In order to realistically integrate the virtual objects into a mixed reality environment, a mixed reality system typically performs several steps including mapping and localization. Mapping relates to the process of generating a map of the real-world environment. Localization relates to the process of locating a particular point of view or pose relative to the map of the real-world environment. A fundamental requirement of many mixed reality systems is the ability to localize the pose of a mobile device moving within a real-world environment in real-time in order to determine the particular view associated with the mobile device that needs to be augmented.